Reflections on Gifts (Spiritual/Natural)

The Bible has taught us that our spiritual gifts such as prophecy, teaching, encouragement and leading are all gifts of grace. (Read Eph 12:6) If these gifts were given to us as an act of grace it is therefore a privilege and not an entitlement. God gave us these gifts as a result of his goodness and it has got nothing to do with us. So we must not be boastful if we have them, or complain and grumble against if we do not have them.

Gifts comes in different form, there are two types of gifts – spiritual and natural. Spiritual gifts are given to us when we were born again into His kingdom, it is only given to those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ, example of such gifts are prophecy, speaking in tongues and teaching (the word of God). There is also another type of gift such as natural gifts, that is put in a person at birth. Such gifts are given to every one at large even to non Christians. These gifts could be gifts of creativity such as writing poem/songs, playing the piano, singing and dancing, what is also commonly know as natural talents.

But whatever these gifts may be, one thing I do believe is that God never gave us these gifts and intended for us to use them for our own selfish desires/purposes. I believe these gifts are for us to use in His Kingdom to give Him glory and it is also to the benefit of the body of Christ at large. While the bible says that God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable (Romans 11:29), I do believe that our gifts must be used actively, otherwise they might become dormant and as a result we might lose our effectiveness in them. If the Lord has given us any gifts, we should take care that we use them humbly and in the right manner.

Gifts such as prophecy and teaching, if not used in the correct manner, it can cause a leader to go astray allowing him to start his own false doctrine such as The Prosperity Gospel or Hyper-grace message, drawing crowds of people after themselves. Instead of preaching Biblical truth, they twist the scriptures to please “the people who will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

People who have the gift of teaching and prophecy should teach and prophesy in the fear of the Lord, they should be drawing men to God and not to themselves. We should encourage our sisters and brothers to use their spiritual gifts to edify the body of Christ and not hide them under the rug and collect cob webs. Practicing the gifts of the Holy Spirit is best exercised in a weekly small group meeting, when the members are encourage to give a word of encouragement or a word of knowledge for ministry.

Sometimes “situational gift” can happen, if a demonized person turns up in a meeting, but the “deliverer” is not available, does that mean that a deliverance ministry cannot take place because of that? Of course not! God will put the anointing to cast out a demon on another person temporarily for the sake of His glory, so that ministry can take place. This particular person may or may not be “anointed” in this form of ministry, but if this person continues to involve himself/herself in this ministry, in time to come she/he might just develop the anointing eventually to cast out a demon. Spiritual gifts operates in the same fashion as natural talent, the more we use it, the better and sharper we become in these gifts.

Everyone has been given a gift from God, some are left undiscovered and unexplored until we venture out and try it because I personally don’t believe that there is such thing as an un-gifted child of God. We therefore, must always be willing and open to try new things, you never know what you are good at until you try it.

What natural/spiritual gift has God given you today? How are you using it to glorify God? Go try new things and perhaps you might in the process, discover a hidden talent you never know you possess!

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I'm a pre-school teacher by profession and a poet. I write Christian poetry for many purposes -
1) to express my emotions/thoughts,
2) to share them with my friends and
3) to bless, encourage/inspire others.
I am also a blogger and at the same time a worship leader/songwriter wannabe. My favourite artistes and musical inspirations are Don Moen and Lenny LeBlanc! My motto is "It is a blessing to be a blessing to others" and I'm thankful that by God's grace I'm able to live it out now.